Chapter 4. Client/Server Development

In this chapter, we will explore the process of developing a client/server application that is primarily oriented around HTTP. This is an important protocol, and it serves as the primary communication medium for a multitude of applications. We will examine the protocol, the requirements placed on a client, and the requirements placed on a server for various versions of the protocol.

Specifically, we will:

• Examine the nature of the HTTP protocol
• Demonstrate how low-level sockets can support the protocol
• Use the HttpURLConnect and HTTPServer classes to create an HTTP server
• Examine various open source Java HTTP servers
• Investigate various configuration issues and how cookies are handled

HTTP servers are used extensively, so a good understanding of how Java supports them is important.